Bus tour and afternoon tea.
Sunday 7th March 2.00pm only
Two Bill Toomath designed homes in Mt Victoria will be open to view.
Catch a bus up to the house for afternoon tea for just $5.
Places are limited to 30 seats RSVP to arch@architecture.org.nz
Starts at the City Gallery

Opening 28 January at the City Gallery will be an exhibition on the long and distinguished career of Wellington architect S William Toomath. The exhibition, Liberating Everyday Life, will provide an overview of Bill Toomath’s work over the many years he has been around.

An early member of the Architectural Centre, still an active member, and still firing on all cylinders now, Bill will be speaking on Thursday night (28 January, 5.15 pm on) at the City Gallery in a discussion labelled “Morals of the Modern: Changing Values of Modern Architecture since Bill Toomath was a Boy”. Read the rest of this entry »

Such a question will no doubt be met with cries of “What is this woman on about?” And justifiably so. New Zealand’s current stock of architectural heritage is thinly spread, under-researched, under-resourced, largely uncared for and still struggling under the weight of a nineteenth-century bias. It survives, it could be argued, from recession to recession; a tempered, stagnant, or backward economy countering the illogics of progress, where signals of the past are often substituted for fostering an economic culture.

Preciousness, taonga, city council heritage officers, the NZHPT and the MCH are surely the answer to fighting the battle, if not the war, waged constantly on architectural heritage. Read the rest of this entry »

We have been pleased by the positive feedback that we have received from members who took advantage of our recent house visits, and would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts and hospitality of Jane Black (Black House visit), Jule Einhorn and Di Austin (Einhorn House visit) and Bob White (Renwick House visit).

Viewing these houses allows us not only the chance to make connections back to the beginning, and in many ways the founding principles, of the Architectural Centre, but they also provide us with the opportunity to consider how we live and design for living today… Read the rest of this entry »

Just when the Modernist house becomes cool again (in terms of contemporary retro-modernist design at least), owners of the actual Modernist houses can’t wait to get out of theirs (actually, its not quite that simple) – giving us all a chance to view and perhaps make a purchase of authentic architecturally-designed heritage. Ditch your villa/bungalow pretensions and (for a night at least) come and check out ‘design for living’ at the Einhorn and Renwick Houses … see you there!! Read the rest of this entry »